My brother has a theory about curry, and once I share it, it may well ruin your dining experience.

He thinks that whichever dish you opt for, the sauce is the same.

So, rather than pore over the menu for hours, weighing up your rogan josh or your jalfrezi, save yourself some time and just pick one and go because the only difference is the odd garnish or a couple of extra chillies.

When I started cooking proper curries I realised he may be onto something. It takes so long to perfect a decent sauce, it would be unrealistic for us to expect a uniquely flavoured and spiced sauce every time we pop to our local Indian restaurant.

Onion bhajis to begin

So short of going to your Mint and Mustard, Chai Street or my personal favourite Kumar’s for a curry that’s different, you’ll find your curries are always going to be fairly typical. But never one to agree with my oldest brother, I’ve taken one for the team and carried on trying out curries in the hope of proving him wrong.

It’s been there for two decades, and is proud of its chef Abdul Bashor, who himself has 20 years of experience.

Restaurant review of Empire in Roath. Relish tray to start

His aim, so the menu tells us, is to bring “passion to a plate” and “Michelin star standards” to the city. We arrived and were warmly greeted by staff taking our seats in one of two rooms of this restaurant. The table was dressed with linen tablecloths and napkins and there was a long list of options in the menu.

I’m sure I’m not alone in getting a little narked by restaurants charging individually for poppadoms and a relish tray. With so many places offering them for a freebie taster it seems excessive when places throw a few quid charge on each.

The tasty sides of naan and saag aloo

But, at least these pickles were tasty and weren’t just yogurt that had a cucumber mushed into it or a sickly mango chutney. There was a good variety of colours in the trays before us, which were chomped down in record time.

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A BITE TO EAT AT...

I decided to start with a seriously tasty king prawn puri chat (£4.90) while my partner played it safe with onion bhaji (£2.90) The chat - a sort of thick pancake with filling - was soft and warming and had a lovely spice level, not too much and not too little. The onion bhajis - a number of individual rather than one large offering - was also warmly received. Fresh and not stodgy - which they so often can be.

The fish fillets in my dish were hidden under a thick layer of spicy sauce. It was billed as a “unique” sauce and while it was lovely, I’m not sure I’d go as far as it saying it was different to anything I’d had ever before.

The fish main course - machli jalfrezi

The spice level meant the saag aloo (£3.50) was a welcome cooling addition. I don’t ever want to know how much ghee went into it, but it was delicious.

We had, as ever, over ordered, but the lamb dish which was tucked into at the other side of the table got rave reviews - even if there was some left behind. There were good pieces of tender meat in a sauce packed full of flavour.

The lamb main course - lamb kalia

We mopped up the sauce with a decently priced naan (£2.50). You can see why Empire has stood the test of time, they served up tasty dishes with a twist in a friendly, smart restaurant.

The bill, which included two beers, came in at just over £40.

Whether it’s done enough to impress cynics like my brother or the Michelin judges should they find themselves down Albany Road on a Friday night, I’m not sure, but it’s a good spot on our door step I’ll be glad to return to.